Apparatus for expanding slitted metal.



No. 895,923. PATENTED AUG. 11,1908. H. E. WHITE. APPARATUS FOR EXPANDINGSLITTED METAL.

APPLICATION FILED PEB- 5, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

V W W w C WITNESSES No. 895,923. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

H. E. WHITE. APPARATUS FOR EXPANDING SLITTED METAL.

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HERBERT Wanner YOUNGSTOWN, onIof APPARATUS on EXPANDIING-TY sLr'r'rEn METAL.

Application filed February 5, 1908'. Serial N5. 414,426;

Specification of Letters Patent.-

- rema nin 11, 1908;

To allwaoia it may concern: I

Be it known that I, llnnnnnr E; WHITE, of

- Youngstown, in the county ofMahoning and pandlng apparatus constructed in-accord- State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ap )aratus for Expamh.

ingSlittcd Metal, of w lch the following is a full, clear,v and exact description, reference being had to .the accompanying drawings,

forming part 'of'thls specification, in whit-h Figure 1 is a sideeleyation, showing exance with my invention; Fig; '3 is a plan view of the dies proper with the toprolls removed;

I 3 is "showing the expanding steps tic-shoulders,

Fig. ,4 is aplan View of'the shtted blank in its preferred I -View partly 1n section showing more clearly orm; and Fig. 5 is a partial plan the steps in the dies.

My inventlon relates to apparatus'for cxpandlng 'slltted metal sheetsfand is designed to provide-a simple and effective ap aratus moving partsfor this purpose, in which the expam i111, ac-: t on maybe obt nod-without the use of To that cnd the invention consists in roviding a iair ofjcoacting diesbetween w iieh the metal v enacting stoppedinclines which bend the successive cut strands away from their original plane'and deflect the sheet, :as a whole, into j a new plane during this action.- In the use the-metal. 4 v In the drawings-'2 and 3 are thedies which,

of the apparatus, the previously slitted sheet is fed thereto, so that the only action in the apparatus is that of bending and expanding inthis form, are shown as having .their operating faces extending vertically, tht'n'igh, of course, they may be set-.wit-h these faces in any desired plane.'- Each inner die face is formed-with 'a series of inclinedsteps 4, extending forwardly and downwardly at a general anglewh-ich is determined by the amount of expansion desired. These-mohncds'teps' or shoulders are preferably slightly, curved,

as at '4, so that the bending operation does not take place entirely at, the upperentls,the

metal being gradually expanded asthe uncl'lt portions botweenitho slits and The shoulders on one of'the dies are extended above those on'tlie other sulliciently to engagothe uncut portions betweenthe slitsnnd the width of the shoulders is determined by an enlarged side ole-ration or face, vlew of one of the dies, partly broken away,-

is forced ordrawn, said dies havingv move forwardly downwardly along the die shoulders' the width ofthe strands. The space between the diesis fixed according to the width of the strands. The dies-may he securmlat the proper distance apart by any suitable means, and for this purpose I have shown bolts 5,5 at each end, wlnchsecure the dies together. These bolts preferably extend through slots at t nay be shiltcd longitudinally of ea-ch other to provide more or less clearance, accoidingto the thickness of the The dies are cut or formed to operate u on-a" certain length of slit and a certain Wit th of strand, dillerent dies being employed for difof slits. ,hcf horizontal distance from the the upper end of the next shoulder orrib is fixed y the length of the slits, being equal to one-half'the distance from center to center of In the present case, I have shown pairs of .ings S,..which aresseoured to the-two dies. The bearings for one'set of the rollers are pressure upon the sheet, and the: rollersmay be driven in' any desirableymannerpas, for. example, by connecting the shafts by s 111 withjheyel gear conneoti'ons lO, to a lme shaft These rollers are rotated'in a direction proper tofeed theslitted sheet forwardly against the upwardly projectingpoints engaging the successive uncut portions, so that as the sheet feeds forwardly, these portions travel downgradually expanding the metal and forming the rneshes; These feed rollers it ill carry the itis expanded. v t The shetifiwill pass outin a' 'dpwmyardly and tower y inclin ed d rection, and in order to draw out the last ,end

clined rollers. l2,'w -hich are preferably driven by a belt orsome other connection which will allow some slip between them and the metal. lhese'.rollers engage the edge portions of the expanded mesh strands, and will pull or draw be thinner endof each die, sov that the dies metal beingexpanded sheet forwardly through the dies, the sheet- 'being thusdefleeted into a-diflerent plane as 'ferent widtlisof strands and different lengths w upper end of one shoulder or, rib on' the die to the uncut-portions at the ends of each slit. Any desirable 'means. maybe provided for feeding the sheet through the drawing dies.-

pinch or feed rollers 6,], which are of sucees sively different lengths, the lower set being. mounted insuitable i'm=esses,in one die, while the upper 'set is mounted in .plates or houspreferably made adjustable so as to adjust the gearsQ, one set of shafts being also provi ed I 1, driven from any suitable source of powen wardly between the: two sets of inclines, thus v portion of the sheet, I preferably employ-im the last portion of the sheet through the exsheet is reached. As the last portion of thesheet feeds through the machine, the number of meshes acted upon successively decreases until the diagonally opposite corner to that starting in is expanded in the last portionof the travel.

In the use of the apparatus, it will prei'en ably be employed as part ol an organized machine, the metal sheets being t ed to slitting rollers in front of the expanding apparatus, and the sheet being then fed forward from the slitting rollers or other slitting apparatus into and through the expanding apparatus.

If the metalis slitted in' the ordinary way with a continuousstrand along that edge which first engages the dies, the set of meshes at this edge of the product will be of slightly different shape from that of the reniaining meshes. To overcome this slight dill'erence, I preferably cut away one set of strands between the neck p'ortions to this edge, leaving theportions 1 3,1as shown in- Fig t. lhis,

however, may or may not be used, as de sired, as its only purpose is to make allmeshes uniform throughout the sheet. This cutting oi the strands may be carried out during the slitting operation and by the same'dies or rollers.

The advantages of my invention result *lrom the simplicity and ell'cctiveness ol the metal, I may use half the number of steps,.

dies. No moving parts are necessary, the

expanding operation being carried out by the coacting inclined steps of the two dies acting upon the uncut portions. The same dies may be employed for diltcrent thicknesses of sheets, and may be easilyreplaced by corresponding dies, to arrange the machine for ditlerent widths of strands and. ditl'erent lengths of slits. Owing-to the fact that the expanding o )eration-is entirely separate from and takes pl there is no complication between the two 0perat'ions, as they are separate and independcut. The apparatusgives a uniformity of mesh throughout the product, and owing to the change in angle of the steps, the expanding operation is gradual, so that thcresistance is uniform throughout the strands. I

While I have shown the horizontal distance from the upper end of one shoulder orstep on the die to the upper end of the next shoulder ,or step as being equal to one-half the distance from center. to center of the uncut portions at the .cnd of each'slit in the and make the distance between them equal to the distance irom center to center of the uncut portions.

ace after the slittingoperation,-

' Many other changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the dies and their steps, as well as in the means for feeding the sheets therethrougl i, without departin from my invention, since. I consider myself the first to employ two-stepped dies between which the metal is drawn and inwhich the expanding operation takesplace.

'Iclaim:

1. ln apparatus for expanding slitted metal sheets, a pair of stationary -co-acting dies, at least one of which has a series of inclined steps; substantially as described.

2. .ln apparatus for expanding slitted metal sheets, a pair ol stationary co-acting dies, said dieshaving each a series of inclined steps on its inner face; substantially as described,

3. In apparatus for expanding slitted metal sheets, a pair of stationary eo-acting dies, said dies having each a series of inclined steps on its inner l'ace, together-with means other than and in addition to the dies for. forcing the metal to be expanded between the dies; substantially as described.

4. ln apparatus for expanding metal sheets, a pair ol stationary co-acting dies arranged side by side with, a space between them the inner face of at least one of said dies having a'plurality'ol' inclined steps; substantially as described. v l

5. in metal expanding apparatus, an ex? p'anding die having upon one lface thereof a plurality of steps extending obliquely thereof in a transversedirection; substantially as described. y

b. 1n apparatus for expanding slitted sheets, apair of dies having, inclined steps,

the distance between the upper die points of one die being substantially equal to half the distance from one uncut portion to the next uncut portion substantially as described.

7. In metal expanding apparatus, an cx-v .panding die, having upon one l'ace'thereof a plurality of oblique transverse steps or shoul-' ders, said steps or shoulders being in stepped relation to'each other longitudinally of the die; substantially as described.

' 8. In apparatus for expanding slitted sheets, a pair of dies having coacting stepped inclines, and. feed rollers arranged to force the 'slitted' metal forwardly between the dies,

substantially as described.

sheets, a pair of dies having coacting inclined steps, and draw-out, mechanism arranged to pull out the last portion'ot' the sheet, substantially as described. It). In apparatus for expanding slitted sheets, a pair of relatively fixeddies adjustably spacedwith reference to each other, having substantially parallel enacting inclined steps, substantia lyyas described.

H. In apparatus 9. In apparatus for expanding slitted for expanding slitted sheets, a pair cl relatively IlLXOtl dies naying' coacting inclined steps in spaced relation to each other, and a series of feed rollers for forcing the sheet between said dies, substantially as described.

12. In apparatus for expanding slitted sheets, a pair of relatively fixed dies spaced from each other and havingtheir adjacent faces formed with cooperating inclined steps,

7 substantially as described.

13. In apparatus for expanding slitted sheets, a pair of dies in spaced relation to each .other, and having their adjacent faces formed with parallel inclined curved steps,

substantially as described.

14. In apparatus for expanding slitted'15 sheets, a pair of relatively fixed dies, at least one of which has its Working face formed with a series of inclined steps, a series of feed rollers vjournaled in recesses in one of the dies, and a my hand.

HERBERT- E. WHITE. Witnesses:

H. R. GLENN, O. D. KAISER. 

